Petticoat



Sept. 1 6, 195s] c. w. 5D-D ETAP '2,851,691

- "PETTICOAT Filed Aug. 8, 1956 IN VEN T0R.5l

cfinite States Patent O PETTICOAT Caroline W. Todd, Independence, and Grace W. Turbyll, Kansas City, Mo.

Application August 8, 1956, Serial No. 602,735

4 Claims. (Cl. 2211) This invention relates to wearing apparel and more particularly to an undergarment in the. nature of a petticoat which is adapted to be worn beneath a dresshaving a flared skirt to give such skirt a bouffant appearance.

Womens clothing styles at the present time dictate that the skirt portion of a dress be flared. outwardly and in order to present such flared appearance it has been necessary heretofore to wear a plurality of petticoats which have ruies at the lowermost end thereof which serve to hold the dress skirt outwardly ina substantially frusto-conical position. However, ther wearing of a plurality of such petticoats has presented many problems, particularly in warmer climates and, during the summer months for the reason that such petticoats. are exceedingly uncomfortable and also present a bulky appearance around the waist of the wearer.

It is, therefore, the most important object of this invention to provide a petticoat whichis adapted to. give a bouffant appearance to the wearers dress skirt without increase of bulk around the waist of .such wearer.

Another important object of this invention istoprovide such a petticoat in which the innermost circular edge of an initially flat annulus of exible material is attached to the innermost face of a conical skirt so as to furnish means towhich may be aixed a plurality of` rules at the lowermost portion of the skirt to give the same a flared elect.

Also an important object of this invention is to provide a petticoat in which a plurality of rules may be attached to the lowermost portion of the skirt, theznumber of such additional ruflles being variable by the wearer of such petticoat.

Also an important object of this-invention is the. provision of a pettcoat in which the auxiliary rufes added to the lowermost portion of the skirt thereof are detachably mounted on a member secured to the skirt in such a manner as to equalize vertical strain on such skirt through a continuous zone around the same.

Another important object of this invention relates to the provision of a petticoat as above referred to which may be constructed of readily available materials so as v to reduce the cost thereof and which may be completely disassembled for easy cleaning as well as storage.

Other important objects and details of construction will become obvious as the following specification progresses.

In the drawing:

Figure l is a side elevational View of a petticoat embodying the concepts of the instant invention, certain parts being broken away and in section to show details of construction.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary bottom view of the invention shown in Fig. l and showing the lowermost portion of the skirt in a flared position with certain elements being broken away or turned 4back from their normal position to show the construction thereof; and

Fig. 3 is a vertical, cross-sectional view taken on line 1Il-1ll of Fig. l.

` 2,851,691 Patented Sept. 16, 1958 ICC As has been heretofore pointed out, there has existed a great need for a petticoat which gives the desired flared effect at the lowermost end thereof while retaining the non-.bulky appearance of a conventional half slip, and apetticoat having these desired characteristics is designated broadly in the drawing by the numeral 10.`

Petticoat 10 has a substantially conical skirt 12 which is composed of an uppermost portion 14 having an uppermost circular edge 16 and a lowermost -circular edge 18. Secured to the edge 18 of skirt 12 is a lowermost skirt portion 20 which has a lower circular edge 22 of considerably greater diameter than the diameter of circular edge 18 so that skirt 20 presents a substantially ared appearance. It can now be understood that portion 14 of skirt 12 presents a substantially smooth appearance around the waist and hips of a wearer, whereas flared portion 20 tends to present a puffed-out appearance.

There is additionally provided an initially flat annular member 24 of flexible material similar to that from which skirt 12 is constructed and in this connection it can be recognized that member 24 has an inner circular edge 26 and an outer circular edge 28. Annular member 24 is adapted to be secured to skirt 12 and in this respect, it is -to be pointed out that it is preferable that the inner edge 26 be detachably secured to the innermost face of skirt 20 throughout a continuous zone of the latter around the same.

Although many types of fasteners may be employed for attaching member 24 to skirt 12, it has been found preferable to utilize a series of snap fasteners 32 and attention is directed to the fact that a tape 34 having a plurality of spaced female members 36 thereon may be sewn to the face of skirt 12 in the same operation in which portion 20 is fastened to portion 14 by lines of stitching 30.

' There is also provided a seriesv of corresponding male members 38 on tape 40 which is secured to the inner circular edge of member 24 in such manner that when corresponding members 36 and 38 are brought into clamping engagement, member 24 assumes a substantially conical position within skirt 12 in depending relationship to portion 14. It is to be noted at this point that it is preferable that the diameter of inner circular edge 26 be substantially equal to the diameter of circular edge 18, but inasmuch as circular edge 28 has a considerably longer diameter it is to be perceived that when member 24 is snapped into position on skirt 12 that the lowermost edge 28` of member 24 presents a substantially ruied. appearance.

Member 24 is adapted for detachably mounting thereon a series of .additional partial ruffles 42 and 44 in a manner hereinafter to be described. Means for detachably securing ruiles 42 and 44 to member 24 may also take the form of a series of snap fasteners 46 and 48 respectively. Snap fasteners 46 comprise a plurality of spaced female members 50 on a tape 52 sewn to the uppermost circular edge 54 of conical rufe 42 and corresponding spaced male members 56 on a tape S8 are sewn to annular member 24 intermediate circular edges 26 and 28. Thus, it can be seen that when corresponding members 50 and 56 are snapped into engagement, ruffle 42 assumes a conical position in depending relationship to annular member 24.

Snap fasteners 48 comprise a plurality of spaced female members 59 disposed on a tape 60 which is sewn to the uppermost circular edge 62 of ruflie 44, and a spaced male member 64 on a tape 66 which is sewn to the outer circular edge 28 of member 24. Thus, when members 59 and 64 are brought into interengagement, ruffle 44 also assumes a conical position in depending relationship to member 24.

It is thus apparent that the uppermost edges 54 and 62 of rufiles 42 and 44 respectively are disposed in spaced relationship on member 24 when such rutl'les 42 and 44 are secured thereto by fasteners 46 and 48 respectively. However, it is desirable that rutiles 42 and 44 be of different lengths so that the lowermost edge 22 of skirt 12 and the lowermost circular edges 68 and 70 of rutlles 42 and 44 respectively, lie in a common plane when ruflles 42 and 44 are mounted on member 24.

It is now apparent that when rutlles 42 and 44 are secured to member 24, the lowermost portion 20 of skirt 12 assumes a pulled-out appearance on the person wearing such skirt 12 and, therefore, gives the dress skirt the desired bouffant appearance.

It is also manifest that a series of rutlles such as 42 and 44 may be attached to member 24 by suitable snap fasteners in order to give the amount of flaring desired by the wearer. The only limitation on the number of such rutlles would of course be the width of annular member 24 between the inner and outer edges thereof. By the same token, it can be seen that the wearer of petticoat can Vary the number of rutlles attached to member 24 at will, according to the type of dress being worn, and thus it is necessary to purchase only one petticoat 10 which includes a plurality of rutiles such as 42 and 44 instead of the now necessary method of having a flared petticoat for each type of dress.

Although other types of fasteners may be employed to secure rutiles 42 and 44 to member 24 and in turn member 24 to skirt 12, it is desirable to utilize the snap fasteners heretofore described because of the fact that it is possible to purchase such fasteners already placed on a tape so that the only operation necessary in constructing petticoat 10 is to sew the fastener containing tapes to the components of the petticoat, thus materially lessening the production cost thereof.

Having thus described the invention what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. In an undergarment, the combination of an outer skirt of ilexible material and including a substantially conical upper skirt portion having upper and lower circular edges, an initially flat, annular, lower skirt portion having an outer peripheral edge and an inner circular edge of substantially equal diameter to the diameter of said lower circular edge of the upper skirt portion and lines of stitching securing the inner circular edge of said lower skirt portion to the lower circular edge of the upper skirt portion through a continuous zone of the latter around the same whereby the lower skirt portion assumes a gathered, substantially conical position in depending relationship to the upper skirt portion; an initially llat, annular member of flexible material having an inner circular edge of approximately equal diameter to the diameter of the inner edge of said lower skirt portion; releasable means for detachably securing said inner circular edge of the member to the inner face of the skirt around the circumference thereof adjacent said lines of stitching attaching said lower skirt portion to the upper skirt portion of said outer skirt whereby the member assumes a gathered, substantially conical position beneath said lower skirt portion; at least one, initially flat, annular rutile having an outer peripheral edge and an inner circular edge, the area of the rutile being substantially less than the area of the member; and releasable means for detachably securing said inner circular edge of the rutile to the outer face of the member around the circumference thereof whereby the rutile assumes a gathered, substantially conical position over the member and beneath said lower skirt portion, the diameter of said inner circular edge of the rutile being substantially equal to the diameter of the member at the zone of fixation of the rutile to the member whereby the undergarment presents a bouffant appearance at the lower end thereof without the addition of bulk at the upper end thereof.

2. An undergarment as set forth in claim 1 wherein said outer peripheral edges of the lower skirt portion and said rutile lie in a common plane.

3. An undergarment as set forth in claim 2 wherein there is provided a second initially flat, annular rutile having an outer peripheral edge, an inner circular edge and an area intermediate the areas of the member and the tirst rutile, there being releasable means for detachably securing said inner circular edge of the second rutile to the outer face of the member intermediate the zones of attachment of the member to said outer skirt and the first rutile to the member respectively, the diameter of said inner circular edge of the second rutile being approximately equal to the diameter of the member at the zone of fixation of the second rutile to the member whereby the second ruflle assumes a gathered, substantially conical position over the first rutile and beneath said lower skirt portion, the outer circular peripheral edge of the second rutile lying in said common plane.

4. An undergarment as set forth in claim 3 wherein said releasable means comprises a plurality of spaced snap fasteners including a series of corresponding male and female members.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 706,235 Hermann Aug. 5, 1902 723,191 Adler Mar. 17, 1903 837,738 Schneider Dec. 4, 1906 838,922 Vernon Dec. 18, 1906 

